


take you for a ride

by ArtificialCatrina



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: College AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Lesbian AU, Motorcycles, inspired by levitating by dua lipa, kinda........
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23693623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtificialCatrina/pseuds/ArtificialCatrina
Summary: Crystal's having a terrible day and Gigi's idea to cheer her up might change everything.Or: it's Crystal's birthday, and nothing comes out as she expects.
Relationships: Crystal Methyd/Gigi Goode, Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd
Comments: 10
Kudos: 87





	take you for a ride

**Author's Note:**

> hi darlings! apparently i'm obsessed with crystal and gigi and since it's still crystal's birthday here i decided to write this, inspired by levitating by dua lipa (yes thanks gigi's performance of wtw tour). thanks for reading and comments are very appreciated xoxo

Disappointment. That’s the definition of Crystal’s day. 

Disappointment and alcohol… maybe some red velvet cake Jan bought for her. She tastes the bitter liquid and sweet frosting in her mouth as she stumbles in her way to the backyard of Jaida’s house. 

She’s sick. Sick and tired, of both the party behind her and her day in general. It had really worn her off, first with her teacher grading her project with a humiliating score of 67 points out of 100, then the ridiculous fight with her mother over the phone (she can still listen to the woman screaming at her if she focuses enough) and her cat destroying her One Direction album with her small and deathly paws, and now — oh _fucking_ now, with some idiot pouring their drink all over her dress in a party that she didn’t even want to attend, or happen for that matter. 

This isn’t how her birthday is supposed to be. This isn’t even how any birthday is supposed to be, in fact. Crystal doesn’t get how Jan could get to the conclusion that a party at Jaida’s house would make her feel better. 

“It’ll be fun!” Jan had said. “You deserve to celebrate your birthday. I’m sure it’ll improve your mood!” 

Spoiler: it didn’t. 

Crystal feels just as miserable as she would feel in her dorm. Being in bed and watching bad tv was her original plan for today. Was that too much to ask for? Why did she let her friends drag her to a party full of people she doesn’t even know? 

Right, because Jan and Jaida had made her puppy eyes and Crystal felt terrible for rejecting such a gentle and thoughtful gesture from her friends. 

She groans, sitting down on the grass of Jaida’s backyard and rubbing a tissue over the huge stain in the blue fabric of the area over her chest, groaning again when she realizes the stain isn’t moving at all. 

Perhaps more miserable. 

It’s a sequin blue dress she had purchased a while ago. It wasn’t really expensive, and it isn’t even her favorite, but fuck, it _hurts_. It’s like today everything in the universe accorded to make her feel terrible. She usually would shrug it off and continue as if nothing has happened, and she can’t quite understand why her natural sense of positivity can’t wash the sadness away. 

Giving up, she tosses the tissue to a side and lets the upper part of her body give up to lie down completely on the grass. She’s lucky everyone else is inside, enjoying the music so loud it makes the whole house pound in rhythm, the intermittent lights that must hurt their eyes, the colorful drinks served by Jan and the closeness of dancing bodies rubbing against each other, so she doesn’t have to worry about someone going out and seeing her throwing a tantrum. 

The party is a success. She shouldn’t ruin it with her bitter existence. 

The sky is quiet tonight, with some stray stars and the moon shining bright. It makes Crystal breathe heavily, over and over again, until she’s sure she’ll be okay. 

But, as her breathing regulates, imagines of every earlier moment when she felt everything but okay flash through her mind, and her lungs are not cooperating anymore. 

Her heart feels heavy, stupidly hurt. She knows tomorrow her terrible grade will still be there, and her mother will still be pissed at her for whatever she even got mad about, and her favorite album will remained ruined and her fucking dress won’t be wearable anymore, and it’s fine, because she can make work for extra points to improve her final grade and text her mom an apology and replace the material stuff that isn’t even that important whatsoever, but that won’t help her stop feeling so _helpless_. 

Helpless — that’s a good definition for her. 

“Crystal?” 

Gigi Goode looking down at Crystal interrupts her pathetic thoughts. 

More than the interruption, her mere presence is what makes Crystal blink twice and wonder, for a brief moment, if she fell asleep on Jaida’s backyard grass and she’s dreaming. 

She’s used to see Gigi everyday, but since today has been a short taste of hell, it wasn’t surprising when Gigi texted her to say she had to miss part of her classes and the party because she needed to find someone to fix the broken temperature system in her apartment. 

She hasn’t come to terms of how she feels about Gigi yet, and it’s not something she would like to do at all. For the past months, Crystal has noticed the way her heart starts pounding violently in her chest when Gigi smiles at her, or takes her hand to lead her through the corridors or when she simply looks at her with those big eyes full of emotion and it’s ridiculous but somehow fitting that the only person she craved to see today was the one she couldn’t. 

“What are you doing here?” Gigi tries again at the lack of response, not hesitating to offer her hand to help her up. 

Crystal takes her hand without thinking (she doesn’t do a lot of thinking in Gigi’s presence) and lets her pull her up in a sitting position. 

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking what are you doing here? I thought said your temperature system was giving trouble.” 

Gigi chuckles, crouching to be at the same height as her. 

“Well, I really wanted to come and Heidi said she could manage it. The girl knows about mechanics, did you know that?” 

Crystal shakes her head, breathing out a laugh. “I never would’ve guessed.” 

Gigi hums thoughtfully. “Well, she does, thank fuck, because I really wanted to see you, birthday girl.” 

Heat creeps up to Crystal’s face incredibly fast, leaving her cursing the power something so small can have over her. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. I asked Jan where you were, actually. She said some dickhead poured all his drink on you and you were probably in the bathroom but you weren’t there.” 

Crystal opens her mouth to vent about her now ruined dress, frowning as soon as a different thought crosses her mind. “But there are like five bathrooms here. You went all around the house looking for me?” 

Confused, Gigi nods. “Is that weird?” 

_It’s extremely sweet_ , is Crystal’s first answer. 

“No, of course not,” she giggles instead. “But why were you looking for me?” 

Gigi looks suddenly flushed, as if she was caught doing something she shouldn’t. 

“Well, I…” she tears her eyes away from Crystal to look at the party behind her through the glass doors. “What happened to you?” 

The change of topic takes Crystal aback. 

“What? What about me?” 

“Yeah, you’re here all alone, looking like a child who dropped their candy, when you’re usually a little happy ball, and in your birthday,” Gigi remarks, although not harshly. “Had a bad day?” 

Crystal hates this how easy is for Gigi to read her. She knows she looks terrible, beside her dress the signals of her terrible day surely mark her face in dark bags under her eyes and pale tired skin, but Gigi has always had a talent to read her beyond that. The simple fact makes her feel even more embarrassed. 

“A horrible one,” she finally confesses in a low whine. “A straight up disgusting, draining, fucked up, impossible day! And, I know I shouldn’t feel so pressed about it, but birthdays are supposed to be happy and I — I am not. At least not now.” 

Gigi snickers, taking Crystal’s hand in her own to give it an affectionate squeeze. 

“It’s okay to have bad days. Now, to have a bad birthday is really fucked up, but it is what it is. Wanna tell me about it?” 

“I’m not really in the mood of talking about me being mediocre in life,” Crystal means to joke more than to actually vent, and she loves the way Gigi giggles. 

“Dramatic much?” 

“Oh,” Crystal’s eyebrows raise as she laughs. “I can be more dramatic.” 

But Gigi doesn’t laugh along this time. She purses her lips, and then stands up, offering her hand to Crystal again. 

“Let’s go.” 

Crystal looks puzzled. She takes Gigi’s hand, allowing her to pull her back on her feet. With her hand still covered by the other girl’s, Gigi begins dragging her back to the house. 

“Where are we going?” 

“Let’s go for a ride,” Gigi suggests, looking back over her shoulder just to give her a smile that reassures everything. 

In the middle of the dark since the backyard lights don’t reach there, the path changes; Gigi takes Crystal through a small hallway that connects the porch with the patio to the front of the house. They meet a few people in the way; some passed out on the ground, others drinking in their friends and some couples making out. Crystal turns to watch them before she realizes they’re crossing the garden. 

“Gigi,” she breathes as she spots the motorbike parked on the sidewalk. 

The blonde reaches in the pocket of her jacket, her hand still on Crystal’s. She finally pulls out her keys and twirls them on a finger. 

“Every time I’m sad, or mad… or high,” she grimaces and Crystal laughs, “I get on this thing and ride away. It usually works to clear my mind and calm me down, so I thought it could work on you too.” 

Crystal feels something very close to gratitude. Instead, she knows it’s pure adoration for one called Gigi Goode. 

“Okay,” excitement starts filling her face as she smiles. “Oh my god, I’ve never been close to a _motorcycle_ before, wow!” 

Gigi laughs, rolling her eyes. “You’ve literally seen it everywhere with me.” 

“I know, but—” she eagerly motions to Gigi and then to the motorcycle. “I always see it as, I dunno, part of you. Like, yeah, there’s Gigi and her bike, you know? I’ve never seen it up close.” 

Gigi’s light hearted laugh is the answer she receives again. “Well, now is your chance.” 

The motorcycle shines in its black neat color, with not a single particle of dust on it or sign of being neglected; Gigi’s perfectionist personality reflecting. Crystal finds herself so absorbed by its beauty that she doesn’t realize when Gigi lets go of her hand and gets on the bike, using her legs to adjust herself as she takes the two helmets from the space behind her on the seat to make room for Crystal. 

She reaches forward to pull the key in the ignition, and it only takes a firm move from her hand for the motor to start growling. The sound makes Crystal gasp. 

“You think you can get on? I don’t want you to fall,” Gigi warns, but Crystal is already jumping behind her. 

Of course, the gravity plays a cruel trick and she has to grab onto Gigi’s jacket to prevent her from sliding off, but Gigi doesn’t seem to care as she snuggles closer. She offers one of the helmets to Crystal, smiling. 

“Safety first.” 

“This is so pretty,” she drawls, passing her fingers over the shiny, baby pink surface of the helmet. 

“Thanks. Heidi suggested me to get it customized that way,” Gigi comments as she puts her own helmet, of a white color, on. “She’s pretty much the only person who I give a ride, so I thought, why not?” 

A tinge of jealousy pops in Crystal’s chest, but she forces herself to ignore it as she notices Gigi reaching over the hand grips, preparing herself to move. She rushes to put the helmet on and forces the image of Heidi taking her spot behind Gigi to fade away. 

“You’ll probably resent the motion, so please hug my waist as hard as you can and hold your legs onto the sides of the seat,” says Gigi, so easily it makes Crystal think it’s something she has memorized. “I’ll go slowly anyway, since it’s your first time.” 

Crystal complies immediately; she wraps her arms around Gigi’s waist and the stupid butterflies in her stomach seem to fly all the way up to her throat, suffocating her for a second, until she realizes it’s just Gigi’s perfume. 

_Fuck_ , she thinks bitterly. _She smells really good_. 

The short heel of Gigi’s boot kicks on something at the same time she rotates the key one more time, and the motor growls fiercely. 

They start moving — it’s almost magical. At first, Crystal can’t really feel it. It starts as such a gentle motion, but when she looks around, she sees Jaida’s house becoming smaller and smaller in the distance, and the houses around moving around them. That’s when it hits her; they’re moving. 

Gigi speeds up once they’re out of the block, turning on the left and then right and moving smoothly until they’re exiting the neighborhood, but Crystal doesn’t mind in following their path. 

She’s too busy giggling at the wind hitting her face and making her hair twirl, creating ginger waves at the sides of her head. 

The world around them is moving so fast, and all she can recognize in the city at night are deformed street lights and bright colors everywhere she looks at; everything seems so distant but so close at the same time as they slide on the asphalt, and the late life of Los Angeles never looked so appealing. 

Nothing seems important now. Her grade, the fight with her mother, her album nor her fucking dress. Her mind is full of Gigi; of her beautiful hair, her endearing voice, her flawless face and how soft she feels under Crystal’s hands; almost as if she belongs there, in her arms. 

If Crystal wasn’t starting to feel dizzy for the speed, she would probably never think such a thing; her feelings for Gigi are something unexplored and feared, threatening to destroy their friendship because Gigi is everything and Crystal is barely something that exists. And Crystal isn’t ready to lose her. 

It’s the little things, like the fact she went all around the house looking for Crystal or that she even wanted to see her, that she thought of a way to cheer her up, that make Crystal’s stomach coil and tie itself in a too tight knot that won’t probably never be the same. Gigi has some kind of security aura around her that, as Crystal learned, was impossible to ignore. She’s confident, sure, but there’s something more to that attitude; something that demands to be trusted under that bitch façade. She’s kind and loving and funny, and if Crystal has to swallow her feelings to make sure Gigi is always at her side, then she will. 

As they speed up into a steady pace, Crystal notices how Gigi relaxes and leans back into her just a little, and without a second thought she leans on her as well. 

“You okay back there?” Gigi asks, voice muffed by the violent wind and motor growling under them. 

“Yeah!” Crystal exclaims. “Oh my god, Gigi! This is amazing!” 

“Wait until you see this!” 

Crystal is about to ask what she means, when they turn into an empty street, where a tunnel leans out. There are no more cars or motorcycles around them and Gigi speeds up even more as they approach the tunnel, lights flying around them. 

A raw “puff!” echoes in their ears as they storm into the tunnel, and Crystal laughs as she feels the force the motorcycle is traveling through it. She feels light, like the butterflies flying around her stomach, levitating at the right speed and watching the world around them as secondary. 

Gigi starts slowing down at the middle of the tunnel. 

“Hold your arms up,” she tells Crystal, eyes locked at the front. “Just for a second, so you can feel the wind.” 

At first Crystal hesitates, but the speed is steady and there are no more vehicles around, so she slowly pulls her arms away from Gigi. 

She raises both arms, wriggling them at her sides. She makes a quick mental note to remind herself to thank Gigi later, because the air hugs her limbs in a way that almost tickles her, the soft touch running on her naked arms and she closes her eyes for a moment, wondering if she could fall asleep like this. 

Of course, when the motorcycle runs over a bump and she has to hold on Gigi’s torso to avoid jumping out of the seat, that idea is quickly denied. 

“Oh, right,” Gigi laughs. “I should’ve warned you about that.” 

Crystal huffs, sleep knocked out of her as they leave the tunnel behind. 

The rest of the way is calm; Gigi decides to go slow this time, so Crystal has the chance to see everything in a clear way (according to her, it’s very important to appreciate the view) and Crystal takes the moment to rest her chin on Gigi’s shoulder and wrap her arms around her middle, just like before, but this time without the messy rush of fearing being thrown out of the motorcycle by a bump. 

They proceed to threat a way through town messily, going around buildings and onto streets Crystal doesn’t even know, but Gigi moves skillfully, like she knows exactly where she’s going, and Crystal trusts her. Soon she noticed that Gigi actually _knows_ where they going. 

She recognizes her surroundings as they approach the apartment complex where Gigi and Heidi live. She’s always complained saying that her place is small, but the few times Crystal has come over, she’s loved the cozy feeling that takes over her as soon as she crosses the door, which makes her feel even more excited. 

Gigi parks carefully on a spot near the front gates. She pulls the key out and the motor shuts down, as she leans back with a pleased smile. 

“I didn’t ask you if you wanted to come here, but I thought you didn’t want to go back,” she whispers, barely having to turn around to see Crystal’s face resting on her shoulder blade. 

“You thought correctly,” Crystal sighs with content before a thought crosses her mind, making her gasp. “Shit, I gave Jan my phone before going out—” 

Gigi reaches on the inside pocket of her jacket, pulling out Crystal’s phone. 

“She gave it to me when I asked for you,” she explains to a stunned Crystal. “She thought we would leave together eventually.” 

“How smart,” Crystal mumbles. 

She unlocks it while Gigi takes her helmet off, noticing the time; almost two in the morning. She tugs on Gigi’s sleeve, pointing at the screen. 

“It’s late, won’t Heidi be pissed if we come in? She could be sleeping.” 

“The girl wouldn’t wake up even if a rock fell in her head,” Gigi rolls her eyes, gesturing for Crystal to take her helmet off as well. “C’mon, let’s go inside.” 

Crystal shrugs as she does so, too wrapped in the thought of spending more time with Gigi to care. She gets back on her feet with a little jump, following her inside the building as they carry the helmets with them. Gigi talks about her day while they’re making their way to the third floor through the stairs, blame the elevator that never came back to the lobby, by Crystal’s request. She wanted to know how she had been doing while she was miserable, and Gigi complies, walking through the empty building. 

“I noticed this temperature thing was broken because, c’mon, California will never be hot enough to make fucking ice cream almost _boil_ ,” she says just when they walk into the right corridor, Crystal trailing behind her. “It was a nightmare, everything was so fucking hot. I hope Heidi could fix it.” 

The metal of her keys knocking makes the only sound that fills the air as Gigi opens the door. She reaches for the switch and the small living room lights up, cool air receiving them. 

“She fixed it,” Crystal muses, smiling. 

“God bless her,” Gigi sighs, taking off her boots. “Could you leave your shoes by the door and the helmet over the coffee table please?” 

Crystal steps on the soft carpet on her short blue socks, watching as Gigi makes her way to Heidi’s bedroom door. She opens it just enough to poke her head inside. After exchanging a few words with her roommate, she turned back to Crystal, closing the door behind her. 

“Heidi was just going to sleep.” 

“Oh,” Crystal’s eyebrows raise. “Tell her hi?” 

“I’m not sure she’ll appreciate me bothering her again,” she giggles. Her mouth opens again, but she closes it seconds after, thinking for a second on what to say. Finally, she gestures at the kitchen. “You want something to drink?” 

The apartment is small, Gigi’s right. The living room has barely enough space for a couch and a coffee table and is too close to the kitchen. The bathroom is that white door carelessly next to the television hanging on the wall, and Crystal bets Gigi and Heidi’s rooms are just as small, although she has never seen them. The few times she has been there, with Jaida and Jan, they simply preferred to stick to the couch and a barstool they would drag from the kitchen. 

Gigi’s room suddenly becomes source of her curiosity, but she nods, remembering Gigi’s question. 

“We’ve got a great menu tonight, in honor of your birthday,” Gigi hums as Crystal sits on one of the stools of the kitchen bar. She opens the fridge, eyeing the content blocked to Crystal’s view by the fridge door. “We have... well, we’ve got beer, and pretty much nothing else.” 

Crystal laughs. “Beer! Just what I wanted!” 

Gigi is beaming under the kitchen lights as she tosses her a beer and takes another one for herself, nonchalantly kicking the fridge closed. She leans a hip on the kitchen bar, worryingly close to Crystal, and holds her beer up. 

“Cheers,” she clicks their cans together. 

“Cheers,” Crystal repeats. She stops right before taking a sip, frowning. “But what are we exactly cheering for?” 

Sipping her drink, Gigi breathes out a laugh. 

“You just killed the moment, babe.” 

_Babe_. Crystal’s ears burn with the name, and she attempts to conceal her surprise by pretending she’s genuinely confused. 

“Well, who cares?” Gigi shrugs, holding her beer up again. “Here’s to terrible birthdays, a broken temperature system, and...” 

“Motorcycles,” Crystal fills in for her. 

“Yeah,” Gigi grins at her. “Motorcycles.” 

Crystal leans back to take a long sip of her drink, savoring the slightly bitter taste going down her throat. She notices Gigi staring at her when she places the beer back over the bar, with the ghost of a smile on her glossy lips. 

“What?” 

“What,” Gigi repeats, snickering. 

“You’re looking at me,” Crystal points out, smiling to cover her worsening blush. 

“I like looking at you,” the blonde simply says, as if it’s obvious. “I _always_ wanna look at you.” 

“That’s creepy. Do I need to call the cops?” 

Far from looking bothered, Gigi shrugs. “Who knows. Maybe.” 

Crystal scowls with no genuine annoyance, but her face softens as Gigi’s smile somehow widens. 

“You’re weird, miss Goode. I thought being weird was my gig,” she jokes, making Gigi throw her head back in laughter. 

Internally, Crystal is praying this moment never ends. Seeing Gigi under the dim lights of her kitchen, toying with that beer and looking so effortlessly gorgeous is having the same effect as when she was feeling the air hit her face on the motorcycle, and her head already feels lost in space, far away from the apartment. 

“Why were you looking for me earlier?” Crystal asks, voice small. 

The intimate atmosphere created around the two is beginning to feel suffocating. Crystal can feel Gigi so close, like she’s the only real part of a dream and the rest of the world was nothing but a wallpaper for her wonderful figure to stand in front of and lead Crystal through the rest of the night. 

“Nothing,” Gigi doesn’t even look taken aback by the sudden question. 

“Oh, c’mon. It can’t be nothing,” she whines as Gigi takes another sip, purposely taking a long fucking time doing so. “Gigi, c’mon. Tell me!” 

She leans forward, making her lower lip stick out in an exaggerated pout. It seems to work catching Gigi’s attention since her whole face seems decomposed when she glances over. 

“Don’t do that.” 

Crystal frowns. “Do what?” 

“Don’t pout.” 

“Why not?” she quirks en eyebrow. 

“Because it makes me wanna kiss it off your lips,” Gigi deadpans. She takes a final sip from her beer before walking to the fridge again, not minding if Crystal just froze on her spot. 

Crystal laughs nervously, trying to convince herself she just misheard. Her heart is beating so fast on her chest, if she watched any medical tv show she might be worried for it to pop out of her body through her nose at any second. 

As time passes, she wonders if that’s possible. 

“What did you say?” 

Gigi sighs, returning with another two beers. She looks uncharacteristically shy, sheepishly placing the new beer in front of Crystal, eyes glued to the carpet. 

“This is dumb,” she blurts. 

“Gigi—” 

But Gigi leans in to kiss her, and suddenly any word forming in Crystal’s head dissolves. 

It’s slow and tentative at first, but any doubt disappears when Crystal’s hands move to cup Gigi’s face, pulling her even closer. 

She feels light. So light, like when she was holding her arms up in the tunnel to feel the wind, and everything moved so far away from her, she felt ethereal. And now, moving her lips against Gigi’s and feeling the texture of her lipstick between them makes her wonder how Gigi can make such raw sentiments be born in her, riding a goddamn motorcycle or kissing her in the tiny kitchen of her apartment. 

Gigi’s hands are tight at the sides of her waist, tugging a little tighter as she pulls back to grab some air. 

“That’s why I was looking for you earlier,” she confesses after a while of comfortable silence. 

Crystal feels pulled out from a deep trance… or rid over by a bus. Whatever sounds romantic as she stares at the blonde’s deep blue eyes and runs her fingers over her shoulders. 

“I think I’ve felt this way with you for a while… I mean, you’re pretty, and I have eyes, so I can tell that you’re pretty,” Gigi continues and if Crystal wasn’t focusing on breathing she would’ve laughed, “I thought that I could keep it friendly, but this morning, when I knew the temperature system was broken and I couldn’t make it to class or the party, I was _so_ pissed. I didn’t wanna let you down.” 

The butterflies in Crystal’s stomach have eaten her tongue. Yes, that’s why she’s speechless. 

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” Gigi finally asks and everything fits in Crystal’s head. 

“Why would I be mad at you? You’ve literally described how I feel for the last semester with this crush I have on you,” Crystal blurts out. 

Before regrets covers her entire face, she notices Gigi raising an eyebrow, with a smirk threatening to form on her lips. 

“Last semester, huh? That much?” 

“Shut up,” Crystal tries to sound pissed, she _really_ does, but with Gigi being so close, her blushing cheeks betray her initial expression. 

“Don’t be embarrassed, you’re flattering me.” 

They both laugh. A warm feeling spreads across Crystal’s chest at the fact. 

“This day... it was hell,” she mumbles, and almost smiles at how Gigi looks at her, having her entire attention, “and I also was thinking of you. It was weird... like, as I said before, birthdays are supposed to be happy and while I was sad and grumpy I couldn’t help but think ‘I wish Gigi was here, because she would make everything better; she’d make me laugh or help me or just make me feel like I’m not alone’ and I hated the idea of not getting to see—” 

“The love of your life?” Gigi suggests, sounding way too hopeful. 

“I was gonna say that blonde bitch,” Crystal grimaces, “but if that works for you...” 

Gigi laughs, mumbling something about who was the real bitch is as she reaches over for her second beer. 

Leaning her side on the kitchen bar, freshly open can in hand, Gigi smiles again. It’s a show of her teeth and little wrinkles at the sides of her eyes that Crystal remembers noticing the day they met that morning at History of Art class. 

Glancing at that very smile, Crystal’s pretty sure she’s dreaming. Did she fall asleep on Jaida’s lawn? That’d be pathetic. Someone could think she’s dead tomorrow morning when everyone’s hung over and oh, the idea frightens her, but she has to be dreaming. She can’t be this lucky — she’s never been lucky. What are the chances someone like Gigi can have a crush on her? 

This flawless, beautiful girl with a golden personality that Crystal’s been making heart-eyes at for months has a crush on her. 

_God_ , she thinks. _If I fel_ _l_ _asleep Jan better never wakes me up_. 

“Crystal?” 

The redhead blinks a couple of times, meeting Gigi’s eyes in the process. 

“You were lost in thought, babe. You alright?” 

The fucking pet name again. Crystal isn’t dreaming; her brain wouldn’t be mean enough to make up scenarios like this. 

“Was I? Sorry.” 

That’s not the answer Gigi wants. She drags the other barstool from the other side of the kitchen bar to Crystal’s side, sitting down with her beer still in hand. 

“Stop overthinking.” 

It’s not a suggestion. Crystal attempts to laugh, but no actual sound comes out of her mouth. 

“Well, I can’t,” she babbles, “it’s hard. This doesn’t feel real.” 

“Doesn’t it?” 

“No,” she whispers, more to herself than to the other girl. “I always thought that you were... romantically different than me.” 

Gigi looks utterly confused. “Please elaborate?” 

The butterflies are not dead. They’re flying around Crystal’s stomach now, begging her to not fuck it up. 

“I never thought you’d feel the same,” she admits, too quietly for her taste. 

Vulnerability is not a good look on her, she has decided years before, and definitely not in front of Gigi. She has all the time in the world to be a cry baby in the comfortable privacy of her dorm, not right now, for Christ’s sake. 

“This is real,” Gigi gestured at herself, then at Crystal. “We’re real. Everything is. I can’t understand why you’re so impressed about it, but I know for sure it’s not enough of a reason.” 

Crystal nods. Gigi’s right, as always, and she’s just wasting time questioning why has her day taken the path it did instead of enjoying it. 

“I’m just being stupid.” 

Gigi rolls her eyes, pulling her again for another kiss — a shorter one, but Crystal can’t help but try and memorize how her lips feel against hers. She’s never stopped and think of how it would be to kiss Gigi, and she’s somehow glad; none of her expectations would have been better than the real thing. 

“I like you stupid,” Gigi comments once they part, receiving a smack on the arm by Crystal. “You know I’m kidding; you’re never stupid, but I do like you.” 

“I like you too,” Crystal breathes, feeling every of her limbs relaxing. Gigi doesn’t say more, and maybe it’s the end of their conversation, but there’s something else forming in Crystal’s throat and before she knows it, she blurts out, “thank you.” 

Gigi looks up, puzzled. “For what?” 

“For the ride. It was the best birthday present ever.” 

Under the dim lights of a small kitchen in an even smaller apartment somewhere in Los Angeles, Crystal knows there’s nothing better than Gigi Goode. 


End file.
